1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to filtering assemblies for filtering polluted gases, and more particularly, to filter assemblies for automatically and semi-continuously filtering the gases discharged from stacks and other industrial outlets in a manner to alleviate and prevent pollution of the atmosphere.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Various filter systems have heretofore been proposed, with increasing frequency of late, for removing pollutants from stack gases and other industrial gas discharge points so that the pollution of the atmosphere and surrounding environment with solid pollutants as well as gaseous pollutants may be alleviated or reduced. An increasing consciousness of the desirability of having clean and pure air to enhance the health and enjoyment of all persons has resulted in a vast increase in the attention which has been paid in the last 20 years to the purification of stack gases and other industrial wastes with a view toward cleaning up the waste to prevent random discharge of materials which are noxious, or at least unpleasant or disagreeable to human beings and to the flora and fauna surrounding such industrial installations. The types of equipment and apparatus which have been provided for scrubbing or cleaning stack gases have varied widely. Some types of devices undertake to remove particles of carbon and soot prior to discharge of the gases, and constitute various types of filters through which the gases are passed to discharge to the atmosphere.
In the devices which have been provided for filtering solid particles from stack gases and the like, it has generally been necessary to provide varying periods of down time on the stacks discharging the gases to permit the filters to be removed and cleaned, and then replaced, in order to function efficiently. This presents an undesirable aspect of such apparatus, since either the plant must be shut down, or the stack gases must be diverted to another point, or treated in some different manner, in order to accommodate the necessity to remove the filters for cleaning purposes.
Another characteristic which has suggested the need for further optimization of stack gas filtering systems is the bulk and complexity of such systems which have been provided in some instances. High capital investment costs have sometimes been charateristic of the systems to the point where industrialists are reluctant to install the systems until coerced to do so by government regulations or inspections, or by lawsuits filed by irate property owners in the vicinity of the offending facility.